D-DAY: 34th TOPIK Experience

I’ve been self-studying Korean for almost 3 years and finally, I got to take the TOPIK exam. I’m not from Manila so it’s kinda difficult for me to take the exam. So when I finally got the chance, I was excited at the same time nervous about it. I finally took the TOPIK test today and the result will be released in a month. Not looking forward to it to be honest. Lol. Anyway, here’s my TOPIK experience.

The night before, I was battling with myself whether or not I should study more or just rest. After making sure I have everything I need in my bag, I went to bed around midnight but it took a while before I finally fell sleep because I was too nervous.

I woke up at 4:30 AM and headed to KCC at 6:00 AM with my aunt and my friend, Arin, who also took beginner and intermediate exam like me. Since it was too early, we waited outside the building and did a little chitchat while going through our notes. I was surprised to see some examinees were accompanied by their parents. It’s just that there are parents who are against their children learning Korean and would rather have them focus on school.

After the long wait, we were finally told to get inside and find our seats. There were too many beginner examinees and KCC couldn’t accomodate all of us since they have limited number of classrooms. So there were two venues. I’m glad I registered early because the other venue was far from KCC. If I took the exam at the other venue, I wouldn’t have made it to the intermediate exam.

The beginner exam was too easy. I managed to finish the exam at least 30 minutes before the schedule. One of the proctors looked at me and raised his eyebrows while smiling like he was complimenting me for finishing the exam ahead of everybody. I was pretty shocked that there was one Korean who took the beginner exam. I heard her conversing with her mom in straight Korean so I just thought it would have been better if she took the intermediate exam instead.

When the beginner exam ended, Arin and I rushed towards Jollibee to eat lunch. We had burgers and fries since we were in a hurry. When we went back to KCC, I saw Alodia. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was her but she uploaded a photo of her manicure and that’s how I confirmed it was her. Haha! And I also met Allie. We had a brief chitchat before the exam started and we took a photo after the exam. (I’ll post it later when Allie posts the photo on her blog.)

I was so nervous about the intermediate exam because even though I finished KGIU and TOPIK 150 Essential Grammar, my vocabulary is still limited so I was worried not only because of the writing part. I was worried about listening and reading too.

The proctor was the same one from the beginning exam. He didn’t bother checking my ID and test slip and just gave me that “Do I still have to?” look. Lol.

Surprisingly, the first part of the exam was easier than what I had expected especially the writing part. I was worried about the essay but I was able to write down a decent essay since the question was pretty easy. I finished it about 15 minutes before the bell rang. I kinda gained a little bit of confidence. But that confidence went away when I barely understood the listening part. That’s when te guessing game began. Lol. The voice made me sleepy, I couldn’t concentrate. The reading part was easier than listening. I understood the gist of the passages and I was enjoying reading them until the proctor said there were only 20 minutes left and I still had a few items to answer. So I just started skimming through the paragraphs trying to understand whatever I could from the words I could recognize. I doubt I passed the intermediate exam. It was too nerve-wracking even to the Korean who was sitting beside me. I’m just not gonna expect so I won’t be disappointed.

I’m so glad my parents let me stay til TOPIK exam. I’ve always wanted to experience taking TOPIK and now that I know what it feels like, I don’t think I wanna go through that madness again. These past two months was stressful to the point that I was experiencing a horrifying hairfall. ㅡ_ㅡ;; Maybe when I’m more prepared, I will take it again. Lol.

Thanks for the sharing. ^^
I wonder why you took the beginner exam.
If you take a 3-hour beginner exam in the morning and then a 3-hour intermediate exam in the afternoon, you may feel very exhausted and cannot concentrate on the intermediate exam.

A girl from the Philippines who enjoys learning Korean language through self study. A survivor of the 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan. A former interpreter for a South Korean military base camp. Have met and worked with the cast and crew of MBC's 'Real Men (진짜 사나이)'

meloncreme is an online journal about her life as a young entrepreneur and her hobby which is learning Korean language.

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